Alana Character Description

Hello Readers! I’m back this week with another “short story”! Since this month is all about characters, I’m going to describe Alana in more detail. I know this may sound boring but hear me out. I’m going to do this:

I’m going to write these as scenes of dialog between characters. These two separate scenes will probably go in my book. Although they are starting out as very rough drafts on this blog. Seriously first time they will be written. So be nice. ?

            I’m going to start with Alana’s love interest, Ferrin. Then I’m going to write how one of the other female werewolves in Alana’s squad, which contains five soldiers that all share a sleeping space. I will post the negative view of Alana next week. Well here we goooo!

            Ferrin walked out of Alana’s room and down the hall, in search of the General.

            “General!”

            “Yes, Captain. If you could get a move on. My wife and I are getting ready to leave. Once Alana gets here.”

            “That’s what I want to talk to you about, sir,” Ferrin said.

            “Go on,” said the General with a raised eyebrow.

            “I want to come with you.”

            “And why would that be?”

            “Well… sir, I guess to keep an eye on her.”

            “Her? You mean Alana?” the General chuckles and raises an eyebrow at Ferrin. “Are you sure she really needs you to keep an eye on her?”

            Ferrin smiles and says, “Sir, we both know she doesn’t, but I still want to. She hasn’t talked to me since…”

            “The Midnight Run?”

            “Yes, sir. How did you know?”

            “Just a hunch, Captain. Tell me, Captain, what do you see in Alana?”

            “Sir?”

            “Just answer the question. Be as informal as you like. Ferrin.”

            “Well, I see her strength, but not just her physical strength. Her heart knows a lot of sadness and she still presses on. I know a lot of soldiers who would break under the weight she carries. Her smile is like that first ray of sunshine after a storm and her laugh reminds me of a raging river, loud and boisterous. Hem. Sorry sir I got carried away.”

            “It’s alright Ferrin. Thank you for your honesty,” said the General and clapping Ferrin on the shoulder. “Why don’t you get your bag and then we’ll check on Alana.”

            “Yes, Sir,” replied Ferrin with a smile.

Character Building

Hello Readers! So, this month I want to talk about building characters. If you are just looking for a questionnaire (or two) feel free to scroll to the end.

If you google “character traits” or “character questionnaire” there are a million different things that pop up. I’ve found doing a questionnaire is helpful to get the basics down, but I’ve also found that those answers change as I continue with the story. For example, in Blood Slave I honestly thought my main character would for sure have this one character as her love interest but as I wrote more it changed and honestly, I think it changed for the better. So, don’t get mad if something about your character naturally changes while you’re writing. Just make sure if it’s not something they learned that it is there throughout the whole book. Another thing that should stay the same throughout the book with your character is appearance.

Creating the appearance of your character is probably the most fun. If your talented at drawing, then draw that sucker. If you find a picture in a magazine or online that is what you want, use that. Heck make a creepy collage of different pictures if you want. If writing it out is easiest, write it out in excruciating detail what your character looks like. Then when you are writing you won’t want to throw their entire description into the first chapter, or when they are first introduced, and the appearance will naturally come out while writing.

It’s also important to think about where your character spends most of their time and how that affects their appearance. What is their job? My main character, Alana, at the beginning has pale skin and dark hair because she is always inside but later in the book, she is spending more time outside so her skin gets darker and her hair gets highlights/lighter. I remember seeing this physical change in my head when thinking about her in different scenes and it bugged me but then I realized as long as I didn’t make the change too drastic it would be believable.

Their personality should be believable too. Perfect heroes only sell in children’s books. I am most definitely not perfect, and I have yet to met someone who is perfect. Flaws/weaknesses should be part of your character but don’t force a flaw onto them. Write a scene with them in danger or in one of your own memories and see how they would act or react, good or bad.

Strengths are important too. You can’t have weaknesses without some strengths as well. I am a very good writer and I can articulate what I want to say in writing much easier than when actually speaking to someone. Alana on the other hand wasn’t taught much in the way of writing and can barely read what she does scratch out on paper. She is however good at speaking. She’s grown up in court and picked up all the lingo. Alana is kind and will go out of her way to help those around her, especially her friends. Some attributes can be learned or taught but really think who your character is at their core.

So, the basic questions you should answer about your character are:

1. What does this character look like? Include gender, hair color, eye color, height, weight, if they wear makeup or not, etc.
2. What job does this character have and how does it affect them/their appearance?
3. What core traits make my character who they are?
4. What role does this character play in the story? This could affect how detailed you go into their background.

Also another good website that has a little more detailed questions for your characters is https://www.somethingdelicious.co/2017/01/bullet-journal-writers-novel-character.html. She is talking about how to add characters to a bullet journal (which I love bullet journals) but you could add this to your notebook for your book or in a word document to save in your writing folder.

If you need some help with traits for your character here is a graphic with an extensive list. Happy character building and I will be back next week with a short story! ?